L-Acoustics’ immersive sound technology L-ISA has had its first permanent installation in a Moscow nightclub.

L‑ISA, which stands for immersive sound art and combines L‑Acoustics’ sound design and loudspeaker systems, was installed at the Mercury Space Moscow nightclub to create a hyperrealistic soundscape at live shows.

The installation was suggested by L-Acoustics distributor Sonoruss and fitted by Theatre Technique and Technology, with the Sonoruss and L‑ISA teams providing support through to the final calibration. The final configuration of the system was designed with the aid of L‑Acoustics Soundvision 3D acoustical simulation programme.

The venue owner was introduced to the multichannel technology when they visited the L-ISA lab in Highgate, London. Igor Verholat, CEO of Sonoruss, explained: “We suggested that they could do the installation in two phases to spread the cost,” explains Igor Verholat, CEO of Sonoruss. “But he was so blown away by what he heard that he decided to have the complete system installed straight away. In fact, the trip determined the entire concept of Mercury Space Moscow.”

During the installation, Sherif el Barbari, Director of L‑ISA Labs, trained the engineers who will work with the system on a day-to-day basis. Calibration and tuning of the system were carried out by Sherif and Julian Laval, applications engineer fixed installs, L‑Acoustics, and the Sonoruss team.

The frontal scene system consists of five hangs of four Kiva II each arrayed across the front of the stage, with two SB18 subwoofers positioned one either side of the centre hang, and two KS28 subs ground stacked either side at the front of the stage.

“Having eight sound sources located around the hall allows a sound engineer to put a guest into the sound image as if the sound is enveloping him,” said Alexander Ananiev, acoustic engineer for Sonoruss.

To complement the frontal system and provide even coverage across the entire space, surround speakers comprising eight X12 are positioned at the top of the walls on the sides and opposite the stage, while ten X8, five per side – two closer to the stage and three towards the rear of the venue where it is slightly wider- cover each of the U’s ‘arms’. The system is amplified by LA4X and LA12X amplified controllers.

“L-ISA provides an amazing localisation of sound sources that immerses the listener in the sound space,” added Ananiev. “It provides a hyperrealistic soundscape for the audience and gives sound engineers advanced surround mixing tools during live events, which is a big step forward from traditional two-channel sound systems.”